Men’s Soccer Narrowly Falls to Navy
After a 1-0 loss to Navy, men’s soccer remains in third place and will host a game in the league tournament.
After defeating their Patriot League foes, Bucknell, Lafayette and Holy Cross, in the previous weeks, the Raiders prepared to take on the Navy Midshipmen on Sunday, October 28.
The men’s soccer team traveled to Annapolis, Maryland for their final away game of the 2018 season, excluding post-season play. They entered the game with a third place Patriot League ranking and a three game winning streak under their belts. Unfortunately, the Raiders were unable to add another win to their resume, and ceded the victory with a 1-0 final score, making their overall record 8-4-5, and their Patriot League record 4-2-2. The game was Navy’s third straight win, improving their record to 4-11-1 for the season overall, and to 3-5- 0 in the Patriot League. Junior midfielder Kentaro Morrison commented on the defeat.
“[Colgate] came out a little slow and then Navy really punished [us],” Morrison said.
This slow start allowed the Midshipmen’s Jacob Williams to score the first and only, goal of the competition at 17:00 off of a penalty kick. Junior goalkeeper Jacob Harris notched five saves for the game, keeping it a one goal game for the Raiders.
Unfortunately, the offense was unable to turn any of their shot opportunities into goals. Senior midfielder Oliver Harris recorded four shots, leading Colgate offensively. Additional shot opportunities were recorded by junior defender Christian Clarke, Morrison, senior midfielder Tim Oberg, and senior forwards Freddy Jonsson and Uyi Omorogobe. Although the Raiders started the second half with a more lively spark, the shots recorded were ultimately 13-11 in Navy’s favor, and of those, Navy also led in shots on goal, with 6 to Colgate’s 1.
Despite the loss, Colgate remains in third place in the Patriot League standings with 14 points—one point behind Lehigh and two points ahead of American, and are preparing for their final in-season home game versus Boston University.
“We just have to regroup. Everyone gave their all and sometimes it doesn’t work out. But we’re excited for another opportunity on Friday,” Morrison said.
Morrison anticipates it being a tough fight, but is sure that the Raiders are up for the task.
“Boston will be tough because they’re also a solid team, but it would be huge for us to pull out a big win, especially on Senior Night,” he said.
On Friday, the Raiders will host their senior game versus the Boston University Terriers, honoring their 12 seniors. The pre-game ceremony will take place on Beyer-Small ’76 Field before game time which is set set for 6:00 p.m. This game will close out their regular season play be- fore they begin to prepare for the Patriot League Tournament which will begin with playoffs on Tuesday, November 6.
With the stellar seasons that the team has recorded over the past two years—winning the Patriot League championship and advancing to the NCAA tournament — the Raiders’ season could have a long way to go. In 2016, they were eliminated in the first round of the tournament against UCLA; however, last year they advanced to the third round, claiming victories against UMass in the first round and Michigan (#13) in the second round, before falling to Louisville (#4) in the third round. If the Raiders keep on this track, we’ll have a lot more soccer to watch!
Contact Isabel Van Wie at [email protected].
